08/09/2025

Alex’s strengths are my weaknesses in MotoGP 2025

Marc Marquez believes his brother Alex Marquez excels in the same areas where he struggles himself, as he explained how the Catalan Grand Prix was decided by their contrasting riding styles in MotoGP.

The factory Ducati rider’s 15-race winning streak came to an end at Barcelona on Sunday, as Alex Marquez took a convincing 1.7s victory on his Gresini GP24 bike.

This was only the second time this season that the six-time MotoGP champion was defeated in a straight duel for victory, having also previously lost to Alex in the Silverstone sprint.

The 29-year-old had regularly been Marc Marquez’s closest rival during the first part of the season, with only a hand injury he picked up at the Dutch GP derailing his momentum.

But he bounced back strongly in Catalunya to claim his second grand prix win in MotoGP, adding to his previous triumph in the British Grand Prix in May.

Speaking at Sunday’s press conference, Marc Marquez explained that their contrasting riding styles allow Alex to capitalise on areas where Marc himself is weaker.

“[It’s] never easy [to accept a defeat] because it’s racing. I try my maximum and always try to win, but in the end Alex deserved [this result],” he said.

“He was coming [off the back of some] strange races since his hand injury. But he is the only Ducati rider who was able to beat me at Silverstone in the sprint race [and] he was able to beat me today.

“Yesterday [also] he was faster than me because his strongest points are my weakest points and the opposite [of that also holds true]. We are brothers but with different riding styles.”

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

Photo by: Lluis Gene / AFP via Getty Images

Marc Marquez has always excelled at left-hand corners, which is why he is almost unbeatable on tracks like the Sachsenring.

In contrast, Alex Marquez’s advantage lies in long right-hander turns, and that explains why he has traditionally been rapid at Barcelona in all three classes.

“He is super strong in my weak points: long right corners, especially Turn 3, Turn 13, 14 and the last two corners,” the 32-year-old explained.

“At Turn 9, he was riding in a super good way, smooth, the bike wasn’t moving [twitching]. I was behind him, [at the] same speed, but [I was] fighting against the bike.

“What happened [today] is something related to your riding style, not about the bike, because we have the same bike. So he is riding better at that point.

“I was trying to compensate on the left corners, but there were just three corners on the left side that I was able to recover some lap [time].”

For Marquez, Sunday’s race was a carbon copy of the 2024 Solidarity GP, where Francesco Bagnaia beat him to the top spot by 1.5s.

“I predicted a race like this,” he revealed. “I said I will follow Alex, and maybe at the end I will try [to overtake him], but he will be faster than me.

“It was exactly the same race last year as with Pecco. Following [them] all the race and in the last laps, they had a bit more.”